Tiny Devotional for RED Friday, 07-30-2021

A great good morning to all my friends and neighbors in Internet Land! And to family members who have dropped by, Remember Everyone Deployed.

I am certainly more stupid than any man,
And I do not have the understanding of a man;
Nor have I learned wisdom,
Nor do I have the knowledge of the Holy One.
Proverbs 30:2-3, NASB


Conversation overheard:

Rufus: “Well, if you are that stupid, why are you recording your words?”
Dufus: “Naw, it ain’t that. He’s meaning the opposite of what he’s saying.”
Rufus: “WHAT? That’s telling a lie! THE BIBLE TELLS LIES! RUN! WE ARE ALL GOING TO DIE!”
Dufus hits Rufus with a 2x4. 
End scene.

No, Rufus, he is not telling a lie; he’s using a literary convention, in which the FORMAT is part of the communication. I never took a real English class, so I’m not an authority, but I have used this particular method, many years ago:

“I’m not real smart about this sort of thing, but …” 

and then I’d give a solution/make a suggestion. It was rather fun; not sure why I stopped, actually.

Studying the Bible on my own, I’d encounter these examples of style, and it would confuse me. 

“Three things, even four…”

What does THAT mean? 

Did the writer start to write about three, then remember the fourth after he started writing? What is the hidden meaning?!?!?

At the time I first encountered it, I couldn’t appreciate this sort of art in the writing. I had been near death, and I was devouring the Bible, seeking the instruction manual for life. Proverbs IS a great manual, but it’s also poetry.

I think it’s pretty cool that the Bible teaches us more than “DON’T DO THAT!”

Peace be on your household.

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